Tag Archives: Heros

It was entangled in fishing line and had a hook embedded in its pectoral fin. It was so entangled in fishing line that it couldn’t move or swim properly. (I say “it” because I have no idea whether this dolphin was male or female.) It was in trouble and needed help.

If this is real — and it looks real to me — a wild dolphin in trouble seems to actually ask a human diver for help. Thankfully, this particular diver was both able and willing to provide that help.

The dolphin seems to know humans are potentially dangerous, but also that we might be able to help it. It ignores the manta rays, which have neither the intelligence to know it is in trouble nor (probably) the compassion to care. It seems to come in slowly toward the man. Cautiously. But it has little choice, because it will probably die without help.

It first swims slowly past the diver, twisting and turning as if to show the man its predicament. Then it comes back and stays as long as possible while the man works to remove the entangling fishing line — until it has to return to the surface for air.

Even then, it returns for more help and lets the diver poke and prod its body as he removes more fishing line and frees its range of motion. But eventually the dolphin swims away with the hook still in its flesh.

Why did it swim away before the rescue was complete? I have no idea. Maybe removing the fish-hook hurt too much. Maybe it could no longer control its fear of the icky humans. Figuring out why humans do what we do is difficult enough; reading the mind of a cetacean is even riskier.

Regardless, it seems to me this is one more in a long line of incidents showing how intelligent and sentient some non-human animals are.

“According to Seattle police, Ybarra walked into Otto Miller Hall with a shotgun and a handgun, confronted at least three people and opened fire around 3:30 p.m. Thursday. When Ybarra stopped to reload his weapons, 22-year-old Meis, who was sitting at a desk in the lobby, sprayed the suspect with pepper spray he often carries. When the suspect was incapacitated, Meis rushed Ybarra and put him in a chokehold to subdue him.”

After he tackled the gunman, other students and faculty members helped him subdue and hold him until police arrived.

One student died in the shooting and two others were injured. Police believe the killer intended to kill many more, and that Meis s

Meis’ quick thinking and action limited the shooting to the lobby, possibly saving many of the students and faculty in the rest of the building.

Far too often heroes die while performing their heroism. Fortunately, Meis survived without physical injury. This is great! We need our heroes alive.

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I am a lover of truth, which is found by a combination of common sense and the methods of science. These “methods of science” include observation, reasoning, testing the validity of one’s reasoning through experiments or further observations, communication with other informed people, and plenty of healthy skepticism. Without these things, there is no truth. There is only superstition. And this is the truth.